ECU hit six, Gulls and Cockerels off to a flier
Report by Ben Somerford
Cockburn's three goalscores in their 3-2 win over Gwelup - (from left) Sebastian Da Silva, Jesse Lazzaro and Kristian Santich. Photo by FotoEnzo
Kenny Lowe’s ECU Joondalup have started the top-six phase in style with a 6-0 thrashing of Armadale at ECU Football Stadium.
Danny Hodgson netted a hat-trick, making it five goals in two games, while half-time substitute Callum Timmins grabbed a double and Harry Evans the other.
While the result extends the Jacks’ exceptional winning run to five games, it also means Armadale have lost four of their past five games as they struggle without top scorer Angel Andres Rivera.
ECU head coach Lowe said: “We’ve played fantastic all year but we’ve worked on a few little things and we’re starting to see the fruition. We’ve dominated the game, so I’m really pleased.”
The best early chance came from an enterprising run from ECU Joondalup full-back Luke Rhodes, before the hosts went ahead in the 27th minute when Hodgson’s speculative long-range shot beat floundering Armadale keeper Cyril Sharrock.
Armadale forward Pieter Jacobsz almost pulled the game level in the 43rd minute when his strike out of nothing cannoned into the upright.
But ECU bounced out of the gates after half-time with Harry Evans heading home in the 47th minute from Andy Higgins’ cross. Two minutes later, Evans turned provider for Hodgson to tap in.
Timmins, back from suspension, made it 4-0 on the hour mark with another long-distance shot which Sharrock couldn’t stop.
Sharrock saved well from Evans in a one-on-one, before Riley Warland set up Hodgson to round the keeper in the 74th minute.
Jacks custodian Johnny Perkins saved well to preserve his clean sheet from Ali Nazaray in a three-on-one situation late.
Timmins put the icing on the cake with a sixth in stoppage-time from the spot after a Kevin Ashwood foul.
Sorrento have made a fantastic start to the second stage of the Men’s NPL after a stoppage-time penalty from Cameron Teece gave them a 2-1 win at Floreat Athena.
The hosts, who were top of the table at the completion of the first phase, began well. Andrew Palmer's shot from Luka Ninkovic's nod across goal was well blocked before desperate defending was required to deny Ninkovic and Liam Murray.
At the other end, Golden Boot leader Teece brought a good save from Jason Saldaris, before the visitors capitalised on the open start in the 23rd minute.
Scott Witschge showed great determination down the right-hand side and squared across for Ollie Annis to score his fourth goal of the season.
The lead lasted less than two minutes. Floreat captain Dean Evans' cross was not held by Joel Driscoll and Ninkovic was on hand to volley in emphatically for his first goal since returning to WA from Melbourne’s Heidelberg United.
Ninkovic nearly had a second on the stroke of half-time but scooped over the bar from six yards.
After the restart, Evans' free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar before Murray dragged a shot wide of the upright as last year's Belt Up Cup winners upped the ante.
It appeared the spoils would be shared but late drama ensued as Palmer was adjudged to have fouled Daniel Faichney in the area four minutes into stoppage time. Teece kept his cool to score goal No.13 for the season from the spot and consign Athena to a second straight defeat.
The other top-six clash saw Cockburn City continue their fine form with a 3-2 win over Gwelup Croatia at Dalmatinac Park.
The Cockerels won four of their last five games to reach the top six, keeping clean sheets in each of those wins, but conceded early against a Gwelup side which put seven past Rockingham last week.
Jon Stynes beat Kristian Santich in a 50-50 challenge before feeding Shubham Mokala, who poked past Luke Radonich to score his second goal of the season.
Radonich then saved nicely with his legs to deny Daniel Stynes, while at the other end Ash Rosindale and Sebastian Da Silva were thwarted by good saves from Connor Campbell.
The hosts did draw level before half-time as Da Silva continued his run of scoring in every senior game for Cockburn when he finished Daniel Santich's cross for a third in three games.
The turnaround was complete 10 minutes into the second period as Kristian Santich drove towards the edge of the area before his strike squirmed beyond Campbell via a clip off the upright.
But Gwelup hit back midway through the second half. Jon Stynes showed great technique to volley towards goal from a tight angle and Ndumba Makeche ensured it crossed the line at the back post.
However, the visitors were level for only a matter of minutes as Cockburn regained the lead from the penalty spot. Josh Samson felled Kristian Santich just inside the area and top scorer Jesse Lazzaro scored for a sixth time in six games.
Gwelup went closest to levelling when Ciaran Salinger's cross-shot narrowly evaded Makeche, while Campbell prevented the hosts from scoring a fourth when saving from Da Silva and Kristian Santich.
Gwelup’s Sam Mitchinson was shown a late red card as Cockburn remained unbeaten at home this year and defeated their opponents for a second time in 2020.
In the lower half of the split, defending champions Perth Soccer Club got their second phase off to a winning start with a 3-0 win over Balcatta at Dorrien Gardens.
It is shaping up as a hotly-contested battle with one Top Four Cup spot up for grabs in the league's bottom half, and the Azzurri got off a great start in the Italian derby when Andreas Theodosiades won a penalty and Paul Zimarino struck home his first goal of the campaign.
Henry Durr sliced wide and Adam Zimarino slashed high as the visitors tried to mount a response and snap a seven-game winless run, which stretches back to a Round Four win over Perth at Grindleford Reserve.
Calum O'Connell's free-kick was saved by Ryan Montgomery as Balcatta continued to press leading into the interval, but Perth would strike a hammer blow early in the second half to steal a march on proceedings.
The second half was barely a minute old when Theodosiades rolled a pass into the path of Aleks Jovic, who turned and scored past Riley Stephenson for 2-0.
Last year's Golden Boot winner Michael Domfeh headed over moments later before Balcatta were denied a goal back when O'Connell prodded in, only for referee Julian Serra to disallow the goal for handball in the build-up.
Theodosiades cleared off his own line when keeper Montgomery got his punch wrong, before Perth made the game safe in second-half stoppage time.
Substitute Jawad Rezai cut in from the left and finished with the aid of a deflection to secure the points for Perth, as they start their tilt towards another Top Four Cup appearance.
Bayswater City built on last week's defeat of Floreat as Luke Salmon's goal gave the three-time champions a 1-0 win away at Rockingham City.
Gordon Smith's teasing cross ricocheted off the post and into grateful arms of Bradley Stout inside the first 10 minutes before Salmon opened the scoring on the quarter-hour mark.
Daryl Nicol found the former Perth Glory academy player with a lovely reverse pass and the forward finished to net in consecutive matches.
Scotsman Nicol put a free-kick over the bar moments later before Stout denied the Gold Medal winner of the past two seasons with an excellent save.
Chances were few and far between for a young Rockingham team but Luke Collins had Jackson Lee scrambling across his line with a fizzing left-foot drive.
Rockingham’s only win this term was a 3-1 upset at Bayswater two weeks ago but a repeat never looked on the cards. They saw one header from a set-piece float wide of Lee's goal, but they also nearly conceded a second in the final five minutes as Stout was alert to an inadvertent slide from Evan Ludgate.
Salmon was denied a second in stoppage time by Stout, but Chris Coyne's side kept their cool to win consecutive games.
Lightning struck twice in a week for Perth Glory as they again defeated Inglewood United.
After denying their opponents a place in the top six last week with a 2-1 win at Hartfield Park, Glory followed it up with a 1-0 victory at United’s Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium.
Giordano Colli scored from the spot after three minutes in last week's fixture and the former Bayswater prospect bettered that on Saturday, when his free-kick looped over Alex Dunn and into the far corner after only two minutes.
Glory were all over their opponents. Chris Donnell fired straight at Dunn from the edge of the area before Colli's shot rattled off the post with Charlie Leech unable to follow up.
The youngsters’ first-half dominance continued as Donnell's shot was deflected wide, while Leech again found Dunn with his effort.
After half-time Inglewood showed more intent and Steve Sokol jinked his way into the area only to shoot into strong Glory defence. Abdul Sesay then drove forward on the other flank with his shot deflecting wide, as last year's Top Four Cup finalists continued to push the pace.
Glory keeper Sam Reilly denied Sesay before the visitors survived a late scare when Scott Blackmore was unable to get a shot on target when loitering at the back post.
No equaliser would arrive and Glory kickstarted their second phase of the season with consecutive wins for the first time in 2020.
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